Bust

Hyde Park Barracks - Somerset and Raglan

Erection date: 1878

These two must be Somerset and Raglan but which is which we can't tell you.

Site: Hyde Park Barracks - busts (3 memorials)

SW7, Kengsinton Road, Hyde Park Barracks - Officers' Mess

Inside this building on the upper-ground floor there are 4 busts - 2 in the foyer area at the entrance from the pavement (at the west) and 2 in the foyer area at the entrance from the car-park (at the east). From South Carriage Drive one has a very clear view - of their backs. From the front, Kensington Road, by going up the steps and peering in through the railings one can see the 2 at the west but they are in deep shadow, hence our less than excellent photos. We can just read their identifying plaques and Hill is on the left (west) of Londonderry. The 2 on the east cannot be seen from the front at all so we have used their back view.

Also from South Carriage Drive one can see, in the car-park entrance, a horse's head on a pedastal, but no explanatory plaque is visible. We're guessing it also came off the old building and that it does not represent a particular horse (important for us since if it did we'd treat it as a memorial and try and find out which horse.)

From British History On-line: "Separated from the maisonettes {to the east} by a narrow space is the Officers' Mess, also built over a car-park. The main entrance hall is at upper-ground level, and beyond its glass walls and doors are placed the stone busts of Somerset, Raglan, Londonderry and Hill from the park front of the former officers' quarters, mounted on tall plinths (Plate 45a, 45c). Never having been designed to be seen at such close quarters, they have a rather startlingly crude appearance, with little differentiation in their features beyond the varying length of their sideburns."

And from British History on-line (describing the previous building): "The park façade was the most ornate of all the elevations of the three main blocks, with the greatest concentration of sculptured decoration. As on the Knightsbridge front, the centrepiece was tightly proportioned. A bow window on the ground floor, with a balcony over, was flanked by an attractive garden terrace (Plate 41b). Carved portrait heads of former army commanders – Wellington, Marlborough, Combermere, Anglesey and Oxford – gazed from laurelwreathed niches over the bow window. Busts of four more military worthies – Somerset, Raglan, Londonderry and Hill – perched on brackets on the wall to either side. These last have been preserved in the officers' mess of the present barracks (Plate 45a, 45c) {and have since been moved to the foyer}." Canmore have a photo of the building which shows the bow window and you can see the busts, as described.

For the history of the three incarnations of these barracks see Hyde Park Barracks.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Hyde Park Barracks - Somerset and Raglan

Subjects commemorated i

Lord Raglan

FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan. Commander in the Crimean War 1853 - 56. I...

Read More

Lord Edward Somerset

Soldier and elder brother of Lord Raglan. From Wikivividly : "... in 1815 th...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Hyde Park Barracks - Somerset and Raglan

Also at this site i

Hyde Park Barracks - Hill

Hyde Park Barracks - Hill

{On a small brass plaque attached to the plinth:} Hill

Read More

Hyde Park Barracks - Londonderry

Hyde Park Barracks - Londonderry

{On a small brass plaque attached to the plinth:} Londonderry

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Morley mosaics - KEW - Margaret Mellor

Morley mosaics - KEW - Margaret Mellor

SE1, King Edward Walk, Morley College

These 10 portrait mosaics are the result of a project by Morley College to celebrate the achievements of significant women who have lived...

1 subject commemorated, 3 creators
Grosvenor Hotel - head 11

Grosvenor Hotel - head 11

SW1, Buckingham Palace Road, Grosvenor Hotel

This 1860 building, by architect James Knowles Snr, is studded with many portrait busts of which we believe only these 14 are representat...

Hippocrates

Hippocrates

WC1, Gower Street, 136

"Lewis's" is carved up at the top of the building.

2 subjects commemorated
A3 - Michelangelo

A3 - Michelangelo

W2, Westbourne Grove, 26, HBA

The Bayswater Athenaeum was built in 1863 by architect Arthur Billing of Newman and Billing. The name was originally inscribed in the pan...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Royal Arcade - Victoria

Royal Arcade - Victoria

W1, Old Bond Street, 28

This arcade has two addresses, one at each end: 28 Old Bond Street and 12 Albermarle Street. The decorative facade, including the relief ...

1 subject commemorated

Previously viewed

Thomas Tompion

Thomas Tompion

F.R.S. "the father of English clockmaking". Buried in Westminster Abbey.

Person, Craft / Design

4 memorials
Carl Bodding

Carl Bodding

Pilot Officer Carl Olaf Bodding was born on 25 November 1914 in Randall, Jewell County, Kansas, USA, the third of the four children of Edward Andrew Bodding (1879-1961) and Lydia Ella Bodding née D...

Person, USA

War dead, WW2
1 memorial
Sir Marc Isambard & Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Sir Marc Isambard & Isambard Kingdom Brunel

SW10, Cheyne Walk, 98

London County Council Sir Marc Isambard Brunel, 1769-1849, and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, 1806-1859, civil engineers, lived here.

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
William Booth statue - Mile End

William Booth statue - Mile End

E1, Mile End Road

This is a fibreglass copy of the statue on Denmark Hill.

2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Sir Edward Henry

Sir Edward Henry

W8, Sheffield Terrace, 19

In 1912 this doorstep was the site of an assassination attempt. Henry arrived home to be met by a gunman, a disgruntled cab driver who'd...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator